I have learned so much from all my travels. I've seen so different places, I've interacted with people from different cultures, I've tasted food I never knew existed, I've exceeded my physical limits and, above all, I have learned to connect with nature.
I have two favorite places: one at the seaside and the other one, up in the mountains. Both places are in nature and I am in love with them especially because they are related to the surreal beauty of mother earth, to the divine bundle that you can create with yourself in nature.
I have two favorite places: one at the seaside and the other one, up in the mountains. Both places are in nature and I am in love with them especially because they are related to the surreal beauty of mother earth, to the divine bundle that you can create with yourself in nature.
I remember exactly what my father said to me a long time ago: it will come a day when you'll realize that living in a big city is not a favor at all. I used to be just like you, saying that to be in the heart of a metropolis gives you so much opportunities, a lot of things to experience, to do or see, which is true. But there is something else that you'll need one day, even more. I didn't understand him back then, but now, I totally get him!
Machu Picchu, which means Old Mountain, is one of the places I've spoken about before.
I consider it the most outstanding Inca achievement because the urban structures, about 200 stone buildings, blend perfectly in the harmony of the natural environment. You can feel the energy of Mother Nature, Inca Gods and Incas themselves who worked, side by side, to give birth to this miraculous astronomical, ceremonial and agricultural center.
Constructed on a steep mountain ridge around 1450 at 2430 m altitude and surrounded by the vast tropical forest of the Peruvian Andes, this city was literally protected by the Andean peaks and hidden in the clouds or mist (you cannot see it from the bottom of the mountain) since its inhabitants abandoned it when the empire was conquered by the Spanish.
Even though the place was known to the local farmers of the area who cleaned and used some of the original agricultural terraces, Machu Picchu remained undiscovered to the rest of the world until July, 1911. Pablito Alvarez, the 11 years old son of one farmers mentioned above was the first Machu Picchu guide ever to led the American historian teacher Hiram Bingham to the ruins of the enigmatic city. Nowadays, at the entrance of Machu Picchu, the guides swarm around you to perform Pablito's role. Bingham wrote several books and articles about Machu Picchu. I put this book on my wish list to read: Lost City of the Incas.
The city is divided in a residential area and a farming area; the former is further divided into an upper town (where the temples are) and a lower town.
Situated below of the Temple of the Sun, the small cave called Royal Tomb, appeared to have been used more as a worship place. It has a quarter of a Chakana (Andean cross) carved in the white stone stairs representing the levels of existence symbolized by the sacred snake, puma and condor. These totems together with the cross itself are often seen in the Inca architecture.
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I consider it the most outstanding Inca achievement because the urban structures, about 200 stone buildings, blend perfectly in the harmony of the natural environment. You can feel the energy of Mother Nature, Inca Gods and Incas themselves who worked, side by side, to give birth to this miraculous astronomical, ceremonial and agricultural center.
Constructed on a steep mountain ridge around 1450 at 2430 m altitude and surrounded by the vast tropical forest of the Peruvian Andes, this city was literally protected by the Andean peaks and hidden in the clouds or mist (you cannot see it from the bottom of the mountain) since its inhabitants abandoned it when the empire was conquered by the Spanish.
Even though the place was known to the local farmers of the area who cleaned and used some of the original agricultural terraces, Machu Picchu remained undiscovered to the rest of the world until July, 1911. Pablito Alvarez, the 11 years old son of one farmers mentioned above was the first Machu Picchu guide ever to led the American historian teacher Hiram Bingham to the ruins of the enigmatic city. Nowadays, at the entrance of Machu Picchu, the guides swarm around you to perform Pablito's role. Bingham wrote several books and articles about Machu Picchu. I put this book on my wish list to read: Lost City of the Incas.
The city is divided in a residential area and a farming area; the former is further divided into an upper town (where the temples are) and a lower town.
The Temple of the Condor
Looking at the next image, can you spot the condor gliding towards you? I know it seems an exercise of imagination and I admit I looked for several minutes at the temple as I was looking at one of Escher drawings, but at the end I saw the tree dimensional image carved as a gliding condor.
The rock on the floor which has been used as an altar for sacrifices represent the condor's head. The big rock behind, beautifully carved by Inca in the form of open wings, complete the image. What a piece of work!
p.s. If you don't identify the condor, blame it on the picture! ;)
Temple of Three Windows
There are a lot of theories that try to explain what they represent. One of them suggests that every window signifies one of the three levels of life in which Incas believed: the underground world (Ukhu Pacha) represented by a snake, the perceptible world (Kay Pacha) represented by a puma and the upper world (Hanan Pacha) represented by a condor. It is believed that in this temple Incas held several ceremonies in order to combine these three worlds in a perfect union.
Temple of the Sun
The distinct elliptical structure, the only one shaped round at Machu Piccu, is known as Torreon or the Temple of the Sun. It was constructed to celebrate Inti (the Sun God), the patron deity of Inca Empire. It seemed to be used as well as a solar observatory. The two windows of the temple were built in a manner that would allow the sunlight to enter and reach the ceremonial stone placed inside the walls of the temple, marking the winter solstice on June, 21 and the summer solstice on December, 21.
After I finished my walk through the Inca labirith, Machu Picchu made me silent for a long time. I stood there and felt this place in a genuine way that almost made me burst into tears. And I know no place that made me feel this way before!
- Told you, I'm on the blog. Hope you enjoyed it, fellows!
Got to go. See you at Machu Picchu!
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